HELP!!! What are these???

[longms]

Curious as to what the parts below are? They look like some sort of oil sprayer for cooling purposes. These two bad boys came out of my oil pan when I changed my oil today. I think they are the oil squirters for the underside of the pistons but am not sure.

How could these have come out? Is the car driveable missing two of these? If they are what I think they are, how did they managed to drop all the way down without messing something up? Am I fucked?

[SpoolnDaapex]

I know the m42 has piston oil squirters but i have no idea what they look like.

[rjcaptsean]

Pretty sure those are #2 in this diagram:



$16 each from Pelican Parts #11-42-1-730-618

I don't really know, but I think that if BMW installed those and they have fallen out, it is not a good thing. Multiple things could be happening. First, you might see a small oil pressure drop, as the hole those came out of is quite a bit bigger than the orifice on the end. Second, they are obviously not spraying on the piston as they were designed, so you may see significantly shorter life on the rod bearings and/or pistons due to increased heat and decreased lubrication. Third, I could be full of crap and you may not have any issues at all. Hopefully somebody who has pulled these motors apart a bit more will be able to chime in.

I just had my engine stripped down to the short block and during my inspection I do not remember seeing those sprayers. Yeah, that does not give me a warm fuzzy... Since the motor is still out, I may have to remove the pan to look. Unfortunately, I loctited the interior upper pan bolts.